Location of the Heart
by Rorrim J. Tori
Summary: "A heart is created when two people meet, when a bond is formed..." Kaien had told her that. But how can Rukia know where her heart is when she is alone? kinda bad summary... My first fanfic, please read! **Spelling errors now fixed.** two-shot
1. Chapter 1

Rukia sat against the wall, her thin white kimono the only thing in between the cool stone and her warm back. She hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on top. Her bare feet were cold against the stone floor that matched the walls, but she hardly noticed. The final rays of daylight were seeping in through the tall, thin window that was carved through the circular walls.

Tugging at the red collar around her neck, she sighed and crawled over to the window. It was positioned so that she could view the execution site and think about what she has done. She knew that death was inevitable for her now, but she still wanted to live and felt strong emotions of fear and panic rising when she gazed upon the enormous weapon poised to end her life.

She knew that she needed to accept her fate, but was not yet ready to do such a thing. So she watched the sky. A dark blue spread overhead then faded to a lighter shade as it drew closer to the horizon. The gentile light blue mixed with the pale pinks and created a wonderful purple. The sun then set the rest of the sky and the clouds ablaze with a perfect mixture of pinks, reds and oranges. Her eyes then traveled down to the ground, where the dry plateau reflected the scorching red. She forced herself to look at the Sōkyoku. Its sharpened blade reflecting the burning sky, red and orange glinting on the edge. It looked on almost beautiful; blazing with color that masked its cold steel, taunting her. Rukia sighed, her eyes catching the orange fire being mirrored in the gigantic execution blade once more. _Orange..._ Rukia thought, as brief memories played through her head of an orange-haired human. She shook her head, snapping her attention back to the present and the prison she was being held in.

The moon was bright that night, despite being only half full, and the stars twinkled in the blue night. Staring at a bird that had taken refuge in her cell for the night, she whispered "What am I going to do?" Her voice echoed back to her, making her even more lonesome than ever. _...What _can _I do?_ She fell asleep on the cold stone with her head filled with questions.

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Rukia found herself in a forest filled with snow, but oddly it was not cold in any way. The trees all looked similar, but held small differences that made each special. As she walked through the forest she noted that patches the ground was not covered by snow, but by bunches of tiny white flowers. Occasionally the chirp of a bird or the rustle of a rabbit hopping away could be heard, but otherwise there was silence. Rukia walked through the forest, feeling a bit calmer but still worried, she wasn't even sure if she should be headed the way that she was going. She really wanted to lay down and sleep, but she trudged on. Stepping through another line of trees she arrived at the center of the forest. A mighty oak tree stood, green and still covered with leaves, the ground around it was also void of snow and flowers blossomed. She was, as always, transfixed by the sight, and was only snapped out of her trance when a hand was set lightly on her shoulder.

Sode no Shirayuki had watched her master, wielder and friend walk solemnly through the snow, heading for the tree that stood in the center of the forest. Rukia looked absolutely pitiful while moving, she was pale, thin, and weaker than Shirayuki had ever seen her. She followed her silently, never letting the small soul reaper out of her sight. As expected, Rukia stopped at the base of the tree, gazing at its magnificence. Placing a hand on Rukia's shoulder, she smiled at the girl. Rukia turned to face her, nodded wordlessly and then started to walk closer to the tree, leaving her zanpakutou spirit on the edge of the clearing.

The tree's great height could only truly be appreciated from two places; one being the ground where one had to practically lie flat on one's back to see any part of the tree; the other was from the very topmost branches, where the wind blew cold and harsh, but one could see the entire forest as a bird would see it. Rukia walked slowly to the base of the tree and leaped up to the the lowest branch, then again to a higher one, she continued until she was at the top. There, the only sound was the wind and her own, quickened heartbeat. She sat down on the thickest branch she could find, closed her eyes, and focused.

As the sound of her own heart beat grew louder, the previously howling wind made no sound in comparison, nor did it threaten to blow her out of the branches anymore. Rukia was too busy listening to the metronome ticking endlessly in her small chest. She felt warm sun on her face and an echo of a question asked to her long ago "Where is your heart located? Rukia? Where?"

"My heart is located here... Kaien-dono..." Rukia's words were a whisper, but they somehow rang out over the beating of her heart.

She kept her eyes closed, even when a rough hand rested softly on her head, she knew who was there, but she didn't want to face him. "Rukia? Please open your eyes, they're so beautiful. I want to see them"

Rukia slowly opened her deep lavender eyes, and stared into the familiar face of her former fukutaichou. He was just as she remembered him, his light eyes twinkling playfully, his hair a black frizzy mess on his head. He was looking concerned at Rukia, trying to figure out why she was looking so scared and hesitant. But a relieved smile spread over her face as she spoke his name, "Kaien-dono."

"Hello Rukia." He was smiling now, but concern shone through his eyes, "I'm glad you've finally found your heart."

She was speechless for a few seconds, and felt herself holding back tears. In her opinion, it was still too soon to be facing the man that stood in front of her. She opened her mouth again "Kaien-dono... I-I'm sorry... Kaien...dono..." She had shut her eyes again and her words were choked as she was was fighting to breathe smoothly.

"Rukia!" Kaien's voice was stern. When she opened her eyes, he was kneeling down to look her in the face, grasping her thin shoulders firmly. He spoke again, but his voice was jokingly reprimanding. "How many times to I have to tell you to stop blaming yourself! You have enough to worry about without blaming the death of a friend on yourself. Now c'mon!" He stood up and smiled then jumped down to the nearest branch and continued to the ground.

Rukia sighed, remembering the first time she had found Kaien-dono here. It had been only a few days after his death. Sode no Shirayuki had watched her cry in the snowy forest before guiding her over to the oak tree. "Kaien spoke of the heart often" Just his name had been enough to send Rukia into tears, "He said he left his heart with you, this is where it rests. Look." Sure enough, at the base of the tree, Kaien was sleeping peacefully, his arms folded behind his head, a calm smile spread across his face. Since then, Rukia been able to 'enter into her own heart and visit those who shared their hearts' with her' as Shirayuki had put it.

Reaching the ground, Rukia looked around, she was standing on top of a grassy hill. The oak tree was the only tree that visible. Everything else was had vanished in a swirling white cloud. At the base of the tree were several people: her friends from Rukongai, a few division members that she had known and of course, Kaien. They were all huddled around the base of the tree looking at something on the ground. Kaien turned and started walking towards her.

"Rukia." He was serious again, "You do know why we all are here, right?"

She was startled by the question. Closing her eyes, she tried to speak with confidence, "O-of course, Kaien-dono... You are all here because you all gave a piece of your heart to me so that you would live on even after any of you... died..." She whispered the last word.

Sorrow shone in Kaien's eyes "That is correct, so please don't be alarmed, but... there's someone else here..."

Rukia's eyes snapped open, feeling nothing but cold shock and dread, her only thought; _Who? Who now?_ She was gasping for breath and noticed that she was suddenly lying flat on her back, the concerned faces of her friends looking down at her. _Who now? Why? How? Renji? He would be the most likely to charge headfirst into a battle, but he has experience... Byakuya? No... He would never. No one can beat Nii-sama. Could it be- no... no, no, not him!_ She sighed, knowing that her sorrow was meaningless at the moment. _I guess it's not that surprising. He _had_ been hit twice by Nii-sama._. She looked at Kaien, putting on her noble expression that she had perfected through being an adopted Kuchiki. "It's him isn't it." She didn't make it question.

Kaien sighed, his eyes full of sadmess, but trying so smile to cheer her up. "I can see why you liked him, he does resemble me..."

Rukia stood up without another word, the circle of people stepped away slowly, allowing her access to the tree. Lying curled up among the roots was a familiar orange-haired teen. Rukia noticed that, unlike Kaien and the other soul reapers in her heart, Ichigo was wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans instead of a black kimono. _He really did_ _lose his powers..._ _and now he's gone... it's all my fault..._ Rukia lost her composure at this, she fell to knees and wept. She stopped when she heard her name being called.

"Rukia?" She gazed into his deep brown eyes and saw nothing but calm concern, "Why are you crying?" He reached up and brushed a tear softly from her cheek, but then kept his hand there, fingers barely touching her skin.

"Kaien, may I have a minute?" She asked, still facing Ichigo. Kaien nodded to her, before turning and walking away, leaving her with the now ex-soul reaper.

Rukia would have slapped his hand away if she had felt better, but instead she just said simply "Because you are here. I don't want you to be here. I was hoping you would just forget about me." _You had other people that you could have given your heart to._ She thought the last part bitterly.

"What? Why would I ever forget about you?" Ichigo was just confused. He had felt like he was falling, then suddenly woke up to a man that resembled himself with black hair, then Rukia crying, and now she was telling him to forget about her? He pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked around, becoming aware of his surroundings for the first time. This was definitely _not_ Urahara's basement. "Hey Rukia? Where am I?" Rukia took a while to answer, but slowly explained to Ichigo where he was. He was silent for a while before asking plainly, and in a slightly annoyed tone, "So... I'm dead now?" He cursed under his breath, "This can't be right, but at least you explained it without your horrible attempts at drawing..." This time, Rukia _did _slap him.

Rukia finally asked the question that had been gnawing at her, "Ichigo, do you remember exactly what happened after I left?"

He thought in silence for a few seconds. "Well, all I know is that if I ever get the chance, I am going to kill that Urahara!"

"Urahara?" Rukia was the confused one now, "But, what does he have to do with anything? Nii-sama was the one who cut you."

"Well, I guess, but I also need to get Urahara. I was... training with him." Ichigo talked slowly as the memory sharpened and the details came to him, "Hat 'n Clogs healed me first then said that he would help me regain my soul reaper powers. The big guy, Tessai I think? He cleaved my Chain of Fate, I fell down a deep pit, for a while I was just floating around in darkness, then I was in pain, then I woke up here."

Rukia was struggling to process it all "Urahara healed you? Then killed you?" she said slowly.

"Yep."

The pair sat in silence for a while, before Ichigo spoke, "Why am I here?"

"I already explained-"

"No, I know where this is, but why am _I_ here? I'm not dead... at least, not entirely... I think..."

Rukia stared at him, he was gazing at the sky and scratching the back of his head, "H-how can you tell?"

He shrugged, "I just can. I'm not exactly sure what happened int hat pit, but somehow I know that part of me succeeded. If that's true, then there is still hope. Plus, there's still our other friends, Orihime, Chad and Ishida, they'll come for you. There's still hope." He smiled at her, still looking oddly calm.

Rukia continued staring,_ Renji _had _told me that a group of ryoka had crashed through Seireite_, the description of them had matched her friends perfectly Ichigo included. _Maybe he_ is _still alive... somehow. _She looked back at the boy in front of her, he was smiling. She had hardly ever seen him sincerely smile, but he seemed so at peace. _This is all my fault. I don't deserve this! Why are people getting hurt, dying even, because of me... _She glanced back at Ichigo, but he had closed his eyes and seemed to be sleeping, so she whispered, "Ichigo, if you _are_ still alive, please just go home. If you are not alive... give your heart to someone else, I don't deserve it..."

Soft hands embraces her. She was once again int eh snowy forest, Sode no Shirayuki the only other person there. She was whispering kindly to her, like a mother comforting her child, "Please don't say that Rukia... Please don't ever believe that you are not wort anything, you are special. And please don't throw your life away carelessly, there is hope, the boy spoke true, he only lost a small fraction of his soul, he is coming to rescue you." There was a long pause of silence Rukia's ears strained to hear something in the silence, "If this is the path that you have set you heart on then so be it, but please make sure you know the cost, make sure you know how this will effect everyone. Make sure you know who you will give _your_ heart to..." The spirit looked at the girl, but she had fallen asleep in the woman's delicate arms. "Goodnight then, Rukia. Think about it tomorrow. Rest now."

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Hello and thanks for reading! This is my first fanfic I've wrote and I hope you enjoyed it.

Please leave a review, comments and criticism are greatly appreciated!

I do not own Bleach.

~ Rorrim J. Tori


	2. Chapter 2

_This was not Kaien anymore. Rukia knew that from the moment she had seen him in the white, frilly collared uniform. Kaien would ___never ___ask her to harm her friends... he would ___never___ attack her without warning just to see how much she had learned, and he most certainly would ___never___ smile after running his trident through her stomach and hoisting her up like a battle trophy. No, even though it held his memories, this certainly was ___not___ Kaien-dono._

Leveling her sword, Rukia stated the one command that she had learned without the friendly guidance of her ex-mentor. She drew a shaky breath and, with the last of her strength whispered "Third dance... Shirafune..." The ice started forming into a shape that mimicked Sode no Shirayuki. She closed her eyes, knowing that it was not really Kaien, but not wanting to witness herself killing her old mentor again. She fell to the ground painfully as her enemy fell to the ground, defeated.

Gasping for breath, Rukia lifted her head and attempted to drag herself across the floor, her vision failing from blood-loss and depleted spiritual power. The trident lodged in her stomach and the ice that was freezing her to the floor were not helping any.

She coughed, tasting blood in her mouth. But she couldn't stop, she couldn't allow herself to die! Not with Orihime still being held captive! Not with so many people were depending on her... not after she made a promise to come back alive. _I also promised Kaien-dono that I would not die alone... _Her last words slurred as blood poured into her lungs. "Sorry... K-kaien... dono... I'm... alone..."

Unable to even hold her head up any longer, Rukia lowered it to the icy floor. She tried to move, but found herself frozen to the floor. _I guess it's for the best..._ she thought slowly, _At least the ice will stop the bleeding... Thanks... Shira...yuki..._

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The soft wind roused Rukia from her sleep. She blinked a few times as light filtered down through the icy trees. She sighed in relief, always feeling more at ease in her frosted inner world. Still feeling tired, she snuggled down into a pillow she was laying on and closed her eyes, before snapping them open... _Pillow?_ She looked up see Sode no Shirayuki looking down at her. Rukia instantly sat up, blushing in embarrassment that she had treated her zanpakutō spirit so casually. "Uwah! S-Sorry...I-"

The beautiful woman held up a hand to silence her, before drawing her into a hug. She spoke soothingly in her master's ear, "It's ok... Rukia... everything will be fine."

Rukia hugged her back, a stray tear falling. Sode no Shirayuki was like a mother to her. Rukia herself had never known her mother, or any adult really, until being adopted by Byakuya. Even then she was rarely shown compassion or love. So she was grateful for her sword's understanding and ability to calm her fears like a mother would. "But... Kaien... and everyone else... I promised I'd come back... I made so many promises that I can't keep."

Sode no Shirayuki looked down at the master with sympathy in her light blue eyes. Despite her master's time with the Kuchiki's, learning how to cover her feelings and her own fiery temper, her master still needed to be comforted at times like these. She had been put through a lot and not many people could truly sympathize with her. She slowly stood, and led her master to the huge tree that marked the center of her inner world. The Oak tree's leaves were shimmering, covered in frost, creating the illusion of small white flowers, their pedals dancing along with the snowflakes in the breeze. "Rukia, look... the tree is so beautiful today." Rukia slowly lifted her head and looked at the tree. She noiselessly walked towards it and sat down in front of it. Knowing that her wielder wanted to be alone, Sode no Shirayuki silently turned and melted back into the white forest.

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Ichigo Kurosaki sat underneath the flowering tree. He had no idea how an oak tree could burst into bloom like cherry tree but after remembering his own sideways world of skyscrapers, he decided not to question the logic of it. He _was_ curious how he knew what his own inner world looked like. Ever since Hat-'n-Clogs threw him in a hole and left him to die, he had "lived" here. He used the word "lived" loosely, since apparently he, or at least part of himself, was dead. But he had slowly gained some memories and glimpses into a familiar sideways city. He had contemplated on telling Rukia about this, but she only came by occasionally, and it never seemed right to ask.

So he sat, arms folded behind his head, leaning against the tree and watching petals lazily float to the ground. The other occupants of Rukia's heart were either running around having fun, or relaxing in the shade of the tree. He opened his eyes when a voice called to him "Oi! Kurosaki! You're here!"

Walking towards him, was none other than Kaien. Ichigo sat up straighter and smiled at him. "Hey! Of course I'm here... Where else would I be?"

Kaien shrugged "Occasionally I can't find you. I think it has something to do with the fact that you're still mostly alive. Actually, I'm more wondering why you're still here?" Kaien had a theory about why even though the boy was _very_ much alive, part of him still resided in Rukia's heart. But he held no evidence or proof to his theory, so he didn't push it.

After they had both gotten over the awkward fact that they looked like they were related, they had become pretty good friends. The first thing Ichigo noticed this time was that Kaien was brandishing a weapon- a long pearly white and blue trident. He raised an eyebrow, "Where'd you get _that_?"

"I found it." Kaien said simply, smiling at the younger boy's obvious irritation at his answer, he continued, "It's my zanpakutō, Nejibana. Rukia must have gotten it back for me."

After a short pause Ichigo stated bluntly "Your zanpakutō... is a pitchfork?"

Kaien instantly put on his best annoyed scowl at this, "Nejibana is _not_ a pitchfork! She is a trident! She is a beautiful trident-weilding mermaid*! Stop being jealous just because you have an over-sized kitchen knife!"

Ichigo scowled back at that. "I'm not jealous! Plus _I_ don't have a zanpakutō! _Ichigo _does!" Kaien had realized that he had started to refer to the living part of him separately from himself. Ichigo continued, "Besides, how do you know what Zangetsu looks like?"

Kaien shrugged again, "Rukia." When he looked back at Ichigo, he seemed to be spacing out, "Something wrong?"

"I have a feeling something big is going to happen..."

Kaien decided not to mention that something big _had_ just happened as it didn't concern him.

*(The spirit of Nejibana is unknown, but I've always thought of it as being a mermaid.)

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Rukia opened her eyes to see her friends either chasing each other playing tag, or staring at butterflies and flowers. She looked around before spotting Kaien a little ways off. She ran to him, but stopped as she saw the trident in his hand. "Kaien-dono..."

He turned to her, and immediately dropped his gaze in shame, refusing to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry, Rukia..." He took a shaky breath before continuing, "I'm sorry I've hurt you so. I should have said something. I'm so proud of you, so proud. I never wanted to hurt you, and I will say this right now." He knelt, laying his trident into the soft earth, he lightly gripped her shoulders. "I want you to live for me. Live and be happy for us who cannot live or be happy by ourselves." Rukia gave him a shy smile and he smiled back.

"Did you know that something was wrong, Kaien-dono?"

"Kind of, I knew something didn't feel right. I just knew, like Ichigo over there-"

"Ichigo's here?" She was surprised, it had become a rare occurrence for the boy to be present when she arrived. She was still curious as to why that was, but she didn't want to ask Ichigo about it. She had a feeling that even if he _did_ know that answer, she wouldn't like it.

"Yeah."

Rukia removed his hands from her shoulders and turned to go walk away. "Also Rukia, you're never alone."

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Rukia was slightly unnerved by their conversation. She had not been planning on Kaien apologizing to _her_. She had also not counted on a certain orange-haired substitute soul reaper to be here. But as she came to the other side of the tree, sure enough, there he was. Relaxing in jeans and a plain t-shirt with orange sleeves and the number '15' on the front, was Ichigo. He looked like he was peacefully asleep and Rukia contemplated whether or not to disturb him to talk. But he slowly cracked an eye open and smiled at her. "Hey, Rukia."

Rukia tried to smile back, but there was no feeling behind it. When she glanced at him again, his eyes were once again closed. "Ichigo?" Rukia said quietly, when he did not react, she said his name louder, but again without any response. "Ichigo!" A troubled look crossed his face, lips twitching down in annoyance.

Sighing he responded in a slow but serious tone, "Rukia... please don't call me that."

Rukia was taken aback at this, what else would she call him? "W-what?"

He looked at her, a strange, pained expression visible in his eyes. "I said, don't call me that please." When she didn't say anything, he continued, "I'm not Ichigo anymore... the _real_ Ichigo is alive, fighting and protecting. I can't do that anymore. I failed, I am a failure, a part of someone's soul that couldn't stand the pressure and gave out. I've been regaining my memories slowly. I think I know why I'm here and what I really am..." He was no longer facing her. His eyes were staring blankly at a flower petal in front of him. "...and I really hope I'm wrong about it. But I can't change anything now. But it all comes down to this, names are important and have meaning. I have failed to fulfill the meaning of my name, so I shall go without one."

Rukia was silent for a while before she promptly smacked him over the head. "Idiot! You are still Ichigo! Nothing can change who you are! But... I can see how yo might feel about being a dead half of a soul, and I personally don't know why you are here, but I _will_ continue to call you Ichigo."

Rubbing his head, Ichigo stared at Rukia, he opened his mouth to speak, but stiffened abruptly, eyes fixed on the sky in a shocked expression. He then clenched his teeth and cured under his breath. Scowling, and looking more like Ichigo than ever in Rukia's opinion, he whispered a single word with a strange mix of fear, confusion and a slight bit of anger. "...King?"

A bolt of purple lightning arched across the darkening sky, causing everyone to flinch. Ichigo stiffened before slumping over unconscious. Rukia yelled his name, but Kaien pulled her backwards, away from the tree. They all, minus Ichigo, watched as the lightning radiated about the sky. A huge bolt hit the tree, creating a shock-wave of energy. Everyone shut their eyes and covered their faces to protect themselves from the dust that had kicked up. But as quickly as everything had started it stopped.

"What... just... happened?" Rukia said slowly. She ran back to the dust cloud, worried for Ichigo, but as she drew closer, she noticed a the orange-haired boy was dressed in a black kimono, and Zangetsu was strapped to his back. "What...?"

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Ichigo couldn't see, speak, or hear at the moment, but he could feel. And as he was, it was kind of annoying to only be able to feel the pain of, once again, having something stabbed through his chest. But he couldn't recall who or what had caused such an injury. Other than the pain, he felt like he was in a dream, floating down a tunnel, there was light at the end of it. Thinking, _this is so clich__é__..._ he headed towards it. He found himself sitting in a forest, leaning against a large tree. He quickly sat up straighter, remembering who had injured him "Ulquiorra!" the teen shouted angrily. He then realized he was not alone. People he didn't know, one of them resembling himself quite a bit were watching him warily.

He then noticed a certain girl, staring at him in confusion. "I-Ichigo?"

"Rukia! Are you ok? What are you doing here? Where is here, exactly? What's going on?"

She attempted to talk, but only a hoarse whisper escaped her throat. She eventually calmed herself, and, once again, she carefully explained where he was

As the realization dawned on him, shock spread across his face. "So, wait... I just... died? _Again!?_ Seriously?" Rukia could only nod. "What about you?"

Rukia was startled by this question too. "I don't know what will happen to me now. That last battle left me with a most-likely fatal wound. So Ulquiorra? He's the reason you are here?"

Ichigo nodded, then sighed. "I was stupid, and am obviously too weak still."

"You got _that_ right, King!" A different voice echoed around them, distorted and mocking. Rukia looked around, confused. Ichigo, while cursing under his breath, grabbed Zangetsu's hilt and swung it above him just in time to block a hit from above. Rukia was knocked backwards and stared in shock as a white blur dashed around Ichigo, seeming to attack him from all sides at once. She looked at Ichigo, he seemed more irritated than startled at who, or what, was attacking him as he almost effortlessly blocked the blows.

Finally, Ichigo lost his patience and yelled, "Knock it off!" as he kicked the white blur into the trunk of the tree, causing it to drop the weapon. Rukia gasped, it was a second Ichigo, with white hair, ashen skin and the black and gold eyes of a hollow. It was pretty obvious to her what this newcomer was. Ichigo continued to yell, holding his mirrored image against the tree, resting the tip of his sword on its throat. "What are you doing here!?" Much to Ichigo's surprise, his hollow's usually insane smirk was gone, replaced by a hateful glare.

As the hollow answered, he dropped his own sword and slowly gripped Ichigo's blade at his throat, "I told you King. If you die, it's game over for me too." He slowly removed the tip of the sword from his neck, not caring that it sliced quite deeply into his palm.

Kaien had pulled Rukia back and stood in front of her, wielding Nejibana and eying the two boys cautiously. _Looks like my theory was right..._ Kaien thought solemnly. He wanted to say something to Rukia to calm her, but nothing seemed appropriate at the moment so he instead gripped Rukia's shoulder in a reassuring manner.

The hollow glanced over Ichigo's shoulder and smiled playfully at the short girl standing behind her friends "Hey...Rukia." She glared at him with cautious anger. He only smiled more, insane amusement visible in his gold irises. "Don't be like that Rukia! Why do you even care about Ichigo? He's weak! He's-" His rant was cut off by a sword once again at his throat, but this time, along with Zangetsu, Kaien and Nejibana also held him at their mercy.

"You will not speak to Rukia in such a way, hollow." Kaien's voice was cold. Ichigo stole a few glances at the man beside him to thank him for helping keep the hollow pinned in a submissive spot. But he did not want to take his eyes off the twisted reflection of himself for long.

The hollow then scoffed, looking more annoyed by the second, "So, what are you gonna do? Kill me? Aren't we already dead?"

They were at a stalemate, and everyone knew it. It was Rukia who broke the silence. "You... are Ichigo's hollow powers. Are you not?"

Much to Rukia's surprise, and slightly to her amusement, the hollow looked slightly confused by her question. "Tch I don't have to answer you."

"What are you doing here hollow! You have no heart to give so how could I receive it?" Rukia demanded an answer.

"Isn't it obvious?" He smiled again, enjoying holding her in suspense, "I'm here because King's here, and he's here because he's a weak coward! Now, I really don't know if I can even kill King here, but if I can..." The sword nicked his neck threateningly. The hollow growled, he was cornered and did not like it at all.

Ichigo then looked into Rukia's face, "Rukia, I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize!" She practically yelled, "Why does everyone apologize like it's their fault! Why is no one blaming me! Kaien, I had to kill you... twice! Both times were for selfish reasons!"

"Rukia..." Kaien started slowly, surprised at her sudden show of emotions.

"And you!" Rukia rounded on Ichigo, who looked stunned beyond words, "Ichigo! You are _fifteen_! You are supposed to be enjoying life, not running around as a soul, fighting and- and it's all my fault! So why are_ you_ apologizing!"

Ichigo smiled slightly at this, "Rukia, no one blames you for anything. I've told you before, if you hadn't shared your powers with me, my entire family would be dead. I felt the same way after my mom died, still do... but anyway, hardly any of this is your fault."

Kaien was about to add to the boy's speech, but he was suddenly kicked backwards by the hollow, who had taken advantage of the momentary distraction. He had picked up his own Zangetsu and was now lunging for Ichigo, both of them knew he didn't have enough time to block or dodge.

"It's over, Ichigo!" But his blade never made it. An orange-tinted barrier appeared around Ichigo, the inverted Zangetsu hit it and sparks flew, but no harm came to either of them. The barrier spread out into a cylinder around him. The hollow kept attacking it mercilessly, but without avail.

Rukia's eyes widened as she felt the presence that the barrier left. There was no doubt it belonged to Orihime. Ichigo must have realized it too, because he seemed to relax. The hollow, on the other hand, was starting to panic as a similar barrier appeared around him. Both barriers started to glow and Ichigo turned to face Rukia, "I'll come for you Rukia! Don't worry I'll-" But the cylinder then disappeared, taking Ichigo with it, bringing him back to life.

Rukia looked over to Kaien, then back to the hollow, he was staring at her, a calm expression on his face. "I guess this is farewell. Until next time, my Queen." He made an over-dramatic bow, looked up one last time to catch her eye, then disappeared too.

"The boy was right Rukia." The small soul reaper looked up at Kaien. "You blame too much on yourself. Let others help you carry the guilt."

"I guess you're right." There was a long pause before Rukia continued, her voice almost a whisper, "I'm not going to survive the wounds, am I?"

Kaien looked at his student with pity, "Now don't say that Rukia. In fact, I think help just arrived!" He was smiling now, Rukia then felt an odd sensation, like she was being woken from a deep slumber. She looked up at Kaien. "Oh, and Rukia? I don't think Ichigo will be back here, unless he dies for real... But he seem too stubborn to stay down for long!" He laughed a bit at that.

Rukia smiled in response "It's for the better, he doesn't belong here yet... and yes. He is quite stubborn. Will he remember any of this?"

Kaien shrugged. "He might count it off as some strange dream." _...His hollow might remember however..._ The idea intrigued him.

With that final note, Rukia closed her eyes.

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She found herself lying in the same room, staring up at the ceiling. She tried to move, but soft hands pushed her back down, Hanatarou looked very relieved that she was awake "Rukia-sama, I'm glad that you are feeling better, but please don't move quite yet."

As he continued to heal her, Rukia looked around, she instantly noticed her brother standing a few feet away, his back turned to her. "Nii-sama!"

He looked over her shoulder at her, and his expression softened a bit, something that only a few people would have noticed. Rukia breathed a sigh of relief, as she lifted up the broken hilt of her lovely zanpakutō and thought about everything Ichigo and Kaien had told her. Closing her eyes, she could feel her sword's spirit comforting her. _Thank you, Sode no Shirayuki..._ She let herself drift into a peaceful sleep. _Thank you._

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Well, there's chapter two now, I really wanted to Include Kaien more, but wasn't sure how to do so... Oh well, I hope you liked it!_  
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Please review, constructive criticism would be very appreciated

I don't own Bleach

~ Rorrim J. Tori


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